William Dorsheimer (February 5, 1832 in

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

Wayne County, New York Wayne County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 91,283. The county seat is Lyons. The name honors General Anthony Wayne, an American Revolutionary War hero and American statesman. Wayne Coun ...

– March 26, 1888 in

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

Chatham County, Georgia Chatham County ( ) is located in the U.S. state of Georgia, on the state's Atlantic coast. The county seat and largest city is Savannah. One of the original counties of Georgia, Chatham County was created February 5, 1777, and is named after Will ...

) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, newspaper publisher, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Early life

Dorsheimer was born on February 5, 1832 in

Lyons, New York Lyons is a town in Wayne County, New York, United States. The population was 5,682 at the 2010 census. It is named after Lyon, France.

. He was the son of Sarah Gorgas and

Philip Dorsheimer Philip Dorsheimer (April 15, 1797 – April 11, 1868) was a German born American politician. Early life Dorsheimer was born on April 15, 1797 in Wöllstein, then in the Mont-Tonnerre Department, which is now in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. C ...

(1797–1868), a

New York State Treasurer The New York State Treasurer was a state cabinet officer in the State of New York between 1776 and 1926. During the re-organization of the state government under Governor Al Smith, the office was abolished and its responsibilities transferred to the ...

. He was educated in

common schools A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary ...

, then at

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

, and then studied at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

from 1849 to 1851. He left Harvard without graduating because of a protracted illness. After leaving Harvard, he settled in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, studied law, and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1854.

Career

In 1859, he formed a partnership with Solomon G. Haven. Also in 1859, Harvard awarded Dorsheimer the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

. In politics, he began as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, joined the Republican Party in 1856, and in 1860 again supported the Republican ticket. In 1861, he joined the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

as an aide-de-camp with the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and served on the staff of General

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

, but at the close of the Missouri campaign Dorsheimer returned to civil life, and published a series of articles in the ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' entitled "Frémont's Hundred Days in Missouri." From 1867 to 1871, as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he was

United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in 32 counties in the northern part of the State of New York. The current U.S. Attorney is Carla B. Freedman who was named on October 8, ...

. He was a delegate to the 1872 Liberal-Republican National Convention at

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and afterwards became a

. He was the

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket wit ...

from 1875 to 1879. During this time, he helped implement the measures against the

Canal Ring A canal ring is the name given to a series of canals that make a complete loop. Etymology There have been canals which formed a ring for more than 200 years, but the term was unknown before the 1960s, when the Inland Waterways Association coine ...

, and was a delegate to the

1876 Democratic National Convention The 1876 Democratic National Convention assembled in St. Louis just nine days after the conclusion of the Republican National Convention in Cincinnati. This was the first political convention held west of the Mississippi River. St. Louis was noti ...

. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law in partnership with

David Dudley Field David Dudley Field II (February 13, 1805April 13, 1894) was an American lawyer and law reformer who made major contributions to the development of American civil procedure. His greatest accomplishment was engineering the move away from common ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He was elected as a Democrat to the

48th United States Congress The 48th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1883, ...

and served from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1885. In 1884, he published a biography of

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

, the Democratic candidate for the presidency, and in July 1885, was appointed

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in eight New York counties: New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess and Sullivan. Establish ...

. He resigned from that office later in March 1886. In 1885, he purchased the '' New York Star'' and began its publication as a daily paper on September 15. He was one of the founders of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and the

Buffalo Historical Society The Buffalo History Museum (founded as the Buffalo Historical Society, and later named the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society) is located at 1 Museum Court (formerly 25 Nottingham Court) in Buffalo, New York, just east of Elmwood Avenue and ...

Personal life

Dorsheimer died in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, while on a train trip to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

with his wife. His only daughter had died in 1874. Dorsheimer is buried at the

Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo Forest Lawn Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in Buffalo, New York, founded in 1849 by Charles E. Clarke. It covers over and over 152,000 are buried there, including U.S. President Millard Fillmore, First Lady Abigail Fillmore, singer Rick J ...

H. H. Richardson

Dorsheimer hired American architect H. H. Richardson to design a house for him on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, which still stands, and helped Richardson win the commission to design the New York State Asylum in Buffalo. He is also chiefly responsible for bringing landscape architect

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...

to Buffalo to design its park system.Broderick, Stanton
William Dorsheimer
1991. Accessed 8 December 2008. The William Dorsheimer House was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1980.

References

;Notes ;Sources *
Sketches of the candidates for state office
" ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', September 1, 1876 *
William Dorsheimer Dead
" ''

'', March 28, 1888
Bios of German-Americans in Buffalo
at archivaria.com

*

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorsheimer, William 1832 births 1888 deaths Phillips Academy alumni Lieutenant Governors of New York (state) People from Lyons, New York United States Attorneys for the Northern District of New York Politicians from Buffalo, New York American newspaper editors Burials at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo) New York (state) Republicans New York (state) Liberal Republicans Harvard College alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century American journalists American male journalists 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American politicians Journalists from New York (state) Members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)